Alto horn, E-flat
Date1890 ca.
Place MadeGraslitz, Bohemia, Czechoslovakia
Place MadeVienna, Austria, Europe
Serial No.49
SignedEngraved on silver cartouche at bell: Schüler / Leopold Uhlmann / WienMarkingsStamped on clock-spring support bar: 49 and double eagle [?]r
Stamped on inner cover plates, respectively: 1, 2, 3
DescriptionBrass, German silver, double loop, upright bell, tuning slide after valve section, curved fixed leadpipe, three rotary valves (1, ½, 1½), originally three-point-wing device, changed to horseshoe stop, clock-spring return.
According to the signature, this alto horn was made by a pupil of Leopold Uhlmann's, one of the most innovative Viennese brass instrument makers of his time; the actual maker is unidentified. This alto horn shows some influence of the models developed by Pelitti in Milan; the form of the third valve loop is reminiscent of the pelittone. Similar alto horn models were also produced by Bohemian makers in Graslitz, such as Joseph Glassl, and advertised by Anton Hüller.
DimensionsHeight: 522 mm
Tube length: 1949 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slides): 11.3 mm, 10.3 mm, 12.2–12.5 mm, 11.9 mm
Bell diameter: 165 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1989 from Norman Bartold, Palmdale, California.
Published ReferencesSabine Katharina Klaus, Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 3: Valves Evolve (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2017), pp. 192-193, 305.
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Object number06970
On View
Not on view1865-1885 ca.